Nightmare: Nightingale, Book 3

The last case of police negotiator Jack Nightingale’s career ended in the death of nine-year-old Sophie Underwood. Since then, he’s saved his own soul from the devil...but now he is haunted by Sophie’s cries for help. When the police drag him to the hospital to meet a supposedly comatose gangbanger who keeps saying Jack’s name, Nightingale realizes that this is Sophie’s desperate attempt to reach him from beyond the grave.

San Francisco Night

Jack Nightingale fights his battles in the shadows - in the grey areas where the real world meets the supernatural. But when he arrives in San Francisco to take on a group of Satanists bent on opening a doorway to hell, the danger is out in the open and all too real. The Apostles - a Satanic coven using murder and torture to pave the way for a demon to enter the real world - realise that Nightingale is on their tail and unleash their own brand of monsters to take him down.

New York Night

Teenagers are being possessed and turning into sadistic murderers. Priests can't help, nor can psychiatrists. So who is behind the demonic possessions? Jack Nightingale is called in to investigate and finds his own soul is on the line.

Dark Forces: The 13th Spider Shepherd Thriller

A violent South London gang will be destroyed if Dan 'Spider' Shepherd can gather enough evidence against them while posing as a ruthless hit man. What he doesn't know is that his work as an undercover agent for MI5 is about to intersect with the biggest terrorist operation ever carried out on British soil. Only weeks before, Shepherd witnessed a highly skilled IS sniper escape from a targeted missile strike in Syria. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect to next come across the shooter in a grimy East London flat.

The Castle Doctrine: Daniel Faust, Volume 6

Out of prison and back on the streets, Daniel Faust returns home to a city on fire. The Chicago mob is making their play for control of Las Vegas, with an army of gunmen and a lethal shapeshifter on their side, while Daniel's friend Jennifer marshals the forces of the Vegas underworld. Staying on the sidelines isn't an option, especially when a Metro detective orders him to get the war under control - and if he can't, he'll expose Daniel's secrets to the FBI.

Worth Killing For: A DI Fenchurch Novel, Book 2

On a busy London street, a young woman is attacked in broad daylight and left bleeding to death on the pavement. Among the eyewitnesses are DI Simon Fenchurch and his wife. Fenchurch pursues the attacker through a warren of backstreets and eventually arrests a young hoodie with a cache of stolen phones - an 'Apple picker' on the make. The case should be closed but something feels off...Was this really just about a smartphone?

Heaven Sent: Quincy Harker Demon Hunter, Book 5

Quincy Harker is walking on the side of the angels this time. Or at least beside an angel. It's the summer of 2009, and Harker, the immortal magic-wielding nephew of Dracula, has a brand-new guardian angel. Her name is Glory, and she's there to try to keep Harker from getting himself killed. Try is the operative word.

Hidden Blade: Soul Eater Series, Book 1

Kicked out of the underworld and cursed to walk this earth for all eternity, Ace Dante finds solace in helping others avoid the wrath of the gods. But when warrior-bitch, Queen of Cats, and Ace's ex-wife, Bastet, hires him to stop whoever is slaughtering her blessed women, Ace is caught between two of the most powerful deities to have ever existed: Isis and Osiris. The once-revered gods aren't dead. They're back, and Ace is in their way.

The Boylan House Trilogy

For nearly three and a half centuries, the Boylan House has stood at the end of Meeting House Road. And something in that house has been killing boys for centuries. The town of Monson is a quaint and quiet New England town. Yet the house is terrifying and has been for as long as anyone can remember. Adults put the thing out of mind and ignore the fears of their children, admonishing them to stay away.

Esoterrorism: From the Secret Files of the Red Room, Book 1

Derek Hawthorne was born to be an agent of the Red Room. Literally. Raised in a conspiracy which has protected the world from the supernatural for centuries, he's never been anything other than a servant of their agenda. Times are changing, though, and it may not be long before their existence is exposed.

Dark Magic: Harbinger P.I., Book 3

Zombies on Main Street. Not my finest moment. The police aren't exactly thrilled with me, but when a cold case heats up and starts to stink of the supernatural, suddenly the sheriff is in my office offering me a job. When the case hits boiling point, I'm dealing with monsters, black magic, and ritual killings. I even have to call on the two craziest witches in town for help. Things must be bad if the Blackwell sisters are my only hope for survival. Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew.

Blood Lines: Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Series, Book 5

A victim killed with a single, precise stab to the heart appears at first glance to be a robbery gone wrong. A caring, upstanding social worker lost to a senseless act of violence. But for Detective Kim Stone, something doesn't add up. When a local drug addict is found murdered with an identical wound, Kim knows instinctively that she is dealing with the same killer. But with nothing to link the two victims except the cold, calculated nature of their death, this could be her most difficult case yet.

Cthulhu Armageddon

Cthulhu Armageddon is the story of a world 100 years past the rise of the Old Ones which has been reduced to a giant monster-filled desert and pockets of human survivors (along with Deep Ones, ghouls, and other "talking" monsters).

Huntress Moon

FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can't believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of accidents and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial.

Wendigo Rising: A Yancy Lazarus Novel

Bigfoot is real. Yancy Lazarus - mage, bluesman, and rambler - knows because there happens to be a nine-foot-tall, walking myth standing in the road, flagging him down. Yancy just can't escape his reputation as a supernatural fix-it man even when cruising through the forgotten backwoods of Montana. Turns out Bigfoot has a serious problem on his hands: one of his own has gone rogue, developing a taste for the flesh of humans and Sasquatch alike.

Rogues

Demon Accords number 10. When a hunter is brutally mauled in northern Maine, it's presumed that a black bear is the killer. But an astute local deputy suspects a more supernatural element. His call for assistance is answered by the supernatural community sending one of their very best. If it takes a thief to catch a thief, who do you use to catch a werewolf? But nothing is ever simple in the preternatural world. There's more here than meets the eye... nose... ear... or fang.

Nightwise

In the more shadowy corners of the world, frequented by angels and demons and everything in between, Laytham Ballard is a legend. It's said he raised the dead at the age of 10, stole the Philosopher's Stone in Vegas back in 1999, and survived the bloodsucking kiss of the Mosquito Queen. Wise in the hidden ways of the night, he's also a cynical bastard who stopped thinking of himself as the good guy a long time ago.

Year One: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Collection

There are things in this world that men and women aren't meant to understand. We aren't supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye - that's where I live.

Where the Dead Walk

Kate Bennett, presenter of paranormal investigation cable TV show, Where the Dead Walk, isn't sure what she believes, other than she seems cursed to lose all those closest to her. After investigating a neglected cliff-top house, empty for a decade because it's "haunted", Kate is convinced a spirit within holds the answers to a childhood she can't remember and an unimaginable crime.

All the Beautiful Brides: Graveyard Falls

A young woman lies dead at the bottom of a waterfall, dressed in a wedding gown with a rose stem jammed down her throat. And in the small town of Graveyard Falls, the horrifying vision stirs a long-ago nightmare back to life.... FBI Special Agent Cal Coulter gets called in to investigate the murder, which bears a terrifying resemblance to a series of killings committed thirty years ago: three teenage girls were found dead at the waterfall's base, all bearing rose stems in their throats.

Demon Moon: Prof Croft, Book 1

Show me an amateur conjurer, and I'll stop him before he gets himself killed. That's the idea, anyway. But New York City isn't what it used to be, and I don't mean the recent crash. Amateur casters are calling up creatures they shouldn't be able to. And there's been a murder at the city's most hallowed cathedral, a message in blood on the victim's back the NYPD wants me to interpret, like yesterday.

Stone and a Hard Place: The Alastair Stone Chronicles, Book 1

It's hard enough for Alastair Stone to keep his two lives - powerful mage and mundane Occult Studies professor - separate without an old friend asking him to take on a new apprentice. Especially after a university colleague wants him to investigate a massive old house for things that go bump in the night. Still, Stone figures it's an easy job: just turn up, put on a little show, and announce that the house is clean. Only it isn't. A malevolent spirit is reawakening in the basement.

The Elementals

After a bizarre and disturbing incident at the funeral of matriarch Marian Savage, the McCray and Savage families look forward to a restful and relaxing summer at Beldame, on Alabama's Gulf Coast, where three Victorian houses loom over the shimmering beach. Two of the houses are habitable, while the third is slowly and mysteriously being buried beneath an enormous dune of blindingly white sand. But though long uninhabited, the third house is not empty. Inside, something deadly lies in wait.

Cold Moon over Babylon: Valancourt 20th Century Classics

Welcome to Babylon, a typical sleepy Alabama small town, where years earlier the Larkin family suffered a terrible tragedy. Now they are about to endure another: 14-year-old Margaret Larkin will be robbed of her innocence and her life by a killer who is beyond the reach of the law. But something strange is happening in Babylon: traffic lights flash an eerie blue, a ghostly hand slithers from the drain of a kitchen sink, graves erupt from the local cemetery in an implacable march of terror.

Publisher's Summary

“You’re going to hell, Jack Nightingale”: They are words that ended his police career. Now Jack’s a struggling private detective – and the chilling words come back to haunt him.

Nightingale’s life is turned upside down the day that he inherits a mansion from a man who claims to be his father. It comes with a warning that Nightingale’s soul was sold at birth and a devil will come to claim it on his 33rd birthday – just three weeks away.

Jack doesn’t believe in Hell, but when people close to him start to die horribly, he is led to the inescapable conclusion that real evil may be at work. And that if he doesn’t find a way out, he’ll be damned in hell for eternity.

I had no idea what to expect with this novel or this author. I wasn't amazing, or even unique, but it also wasn't predictable. Cop-turned-detective is such an old, played-out concept, and I usually have zero patience for it. The fact that I listened long enough to get into this one is something in itself.

And then the direction it takes is unusual and interesting. Not as dark and scary as I wanted it to be, but maybe it wasn't meant to be that kind of novel. I would recommend this book without reservation.

Part detective novel, part paranormal thriller, Nightfall took the best from both genres and kept me interested from beginning to end. The book is paced well and pulled me into the plot immediately. The subject matter is dark but not overly gruesome. There were a few points when I felt Jack's dialog with secondary characters became a little too repetitive. While the story is unique, many of Jack's "creepy" experiences are things I've seen in horror movies many times over. Regardless, the book was a lot of fun and I'd recommend it. Definitely don't judge the book by the name. "Nightfall" had virtually nothing to do with the story at all. I can think of a dozen better titles.

The narration is excellent and easy to listen to. Within minutes you understand exactly what Jack is all about. Even the female voices are well done and never seem strange or out of place coming from this narrator.

Sometimes you take a chance and find a hidden gem, sometimes not so much. I really lucked out this time! I had no idea what to expect - bought the title based off the reviews and because (I think) it was in a sale over Christmas and it sounded like something I would enjoy. I did, very much. The story was gripping, enough that it over rode some of my minor annoyances with the writing, particularly the continual reference to Jack's smoking - not sure why there was such an emphasis on that because it really didn't add anything to the plot. There were other parts where I felt some editing would have helped but since I just finished this and about to start the second book in the series within the next 24 hours, obviously not a major hindrance.

What made the experience of listening to Nightfall the most enjoyable?

Two things I have to have when listening to a book...Good Story and Really good Narrater. This book catches you right from the start and doesn't let go. I'll be looking to find something else that Paul Thornley narrated.

What did you like best about this story?

The way the story unfolded. It seemed you as the listener went through the thought process with Jack when he's trying to figure out WHAT IS GOING ON.

I have never come across Stephen Leather's books before, but if this is indicative of the standard of his stories, I will be looking for more in the future. I was so gripped by the tension of Jack Nightingale being surrounded by death and mayhem as he tries to find out the truth about his birth and the fate that awaits him on his 33rd birthday that I stayed awake half the night listening, because I just had to know what happened next. It is a long book, but my attention never wavered, which is rare. I recommend this as a jolly good 'read' to anyone who enjoys thrillers. A beautiful reading job by Paul Thornley, whose voice was perfect for the character, was the icing on the cake.

25 of 25 people found this review helpful

Stephen

Elland, United Kingdom

9/20/10

Overall

"A fantastic audiobook"

I love all of Stephen Leather's books but this in my opinion is his best by far a really gripping listen, the Dan Shepperd books are fantastic but this is totaly different and Paul Thornley in my opinion is a fantastic narrator, try listening to this while walking the dog at night really does make you keep looking behind you.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Kirstine

Bonnyrigg, United Kingdom

12/28/10

Overall

"Not at all what I expected!"

The book turned out to be very different from what I was expecting: changing from a detective-type story into quasi-religious tale of the supernatural. The first half of the book is very gripping and kept me eager to continue, but I felt latterly it went off too much into contemplating what happens after death and relying on the supernatural. The reader is excellent and his voice suited the main character well.
A word of advice if you've just giving up smoking or trying to do so this book will be torture for you as it is a long advert for a particular brand of American cigarettes beginning with 'M' with so many references to needing a cigarette and the pleasure and relief of smoking that thoughts of 'product placement' kept coming into my mind.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

8/8/11

Overall

"Enjoyable Yarn"

This book is more Dennis Wheatley thand Stephen King so don't expect gory goings on or aliens in the plot. I loved the narration and it was so good to listen to a British accent for a change. Jack Nightingale is a rather likeable sceptic and although I thought parts of the book dwelt a little too much on death, making it a bit morbid in parts, I really enjoyed it and can't wait to listen to the sequel.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Helen

Bristol, United Kingdom

5/10/11

Overall

"A good enough listen"

My first Stephen Leather. I'd read so much about him being a mainstream star who'd decided to self-publish that I thought I'd give his work a go. The supernatural theme was unusual and added interest when teamed with the otherwise slightly formulaic device of the jaded detective/PI character (hard-smoking, hard-drinking, world-weary and cynical, with a pretty female sidekick). I've previously enjoyed the narrator's work and a good narrator is key to the success of any audiobook, but on this occasion the narrator was slightly irritating (the emphasis and slight pause on 'said' became wearing after a while: "SAID...Jenny" "SAID... Nightingale"). I will probably look for other Stephen Leather books, but not for a while. This was one of those 'also ran' audiobooks that didn't exactly disappoint but didn't wow either.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

James

Woking, United Kingdom

7/11/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Average story, averagely told"

Not sure why there are rave reviews for this book, it seems a fairly average story told in a very average way. The narrator is excellent but the story is slow paced with meaningless scenes, shallow and repetitive discussions about death and characters that go nowhere and are hard to care about. Maybe it's just me.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Janice

Wallington, United Kingdom

8/19/10

Overall

"Very different"

An unusual storyline, supernatural but down to earth due to the brilliant narration of Paul Thornley.
Jack Nightingale's birthday is approaching, but he receives the unwelcome news that his soul has been traded and will be given up when he reaches his 33rd birthday. Various people repeat 'You're going to hell Jack Nightingale' and he has a race against time to find out what it's all about and save himself. Very different, looking forward to the next book.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

UsefulThings

1/27/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"enjoyable but not very original"

This was an enjoyable enough listen. Well narrated and decently paced, however not terrible original.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wayne

Bargoed, United Kingdom

4/7/13

Overall

"Excellent"

This is not a genre I thought I'd enjoy, but being a fan of Stephen Leather's other books I thought I'd give it a go - and I'm glad I did. As with the author’s other stories, the characters are completely believable with whom you will associate very quickly. I found myself getting wrapped up in the drama as the story unfolded, which I won’t say anything about not to give away the slightest hint. Rather, have a read and find out for yourself. Although this is a departure from the authors usual subject matter, if you’ve enjoyed any of his other books, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

jennifer

alfreton, United Kingdom

6/19/11

Overall

"nightfall"

Brilliant spooky chilling story keeps you longing for more i loved every minute of this story

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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